Sunday, October 18, 2009

Barley Pilaf/stuffing

Ingredients

  • 1 whole Long Island Cheese Pumpkin (optional)
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Butter
  • 1 cup Barley
  • 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
  • 2 cups Chicken Stock
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1 whole Bay Leaf
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Butter
  • ½ cup Hulled Sunflower Seeds
  • 1 whole Onion, Chopped
  • 1 whole Granny Smith Apple, Peeled And Chopped
  • 1 cup Frozen Chopped Spinach
  • 1 dash Rice Vinegar

Preparation Instructions

To toast the barley:
Heat 1T Olive oil and 1T butter in a small dutch oven or thick bottomed sauce pan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, put barley in and increase heat to high. Stir frequently, until the barley darkens and begins to smell nutty.

Once barley is toasty, reduce heat to medium. Add the 3 cloves garlic, minced and stir for another minute or so, until the garlic is fragrant.

Add the 2 cups stock, 1 cup water and bay leaf to the barley garlic mixture and turn down to a simmer. Cook for 45-60 minutes depending on your barley.

NOTE: If stuffing a pumpkin, at this time cut the top off and scoop out seeds and stringy flesh. Replace the top, place pumpkin in a pan with 1 inch of water and bake at 350 until easily pierced with a knife. (40 minutes or so)

Once the barley is done, remove bay leaf and discard. Remove barley pan from heat and let sit.

Put remaining 1T Olive oil and 1T butter in a pan, and toast sunflower seeds the same way you did the barley. Add onion and apple, and saute until translucent. Add frozen spinach and cover for 3 minutes, until spinach has cooked and can be easily mixed with onion mixture.

Mix sunflower seed/onion/apple/spinach into barley. Barley may have clumped a bit in sitting, just fluff it with a fork when you add everything else in.

Add dash or 2 of rice vinegar to taste. Doesn’t need much, just enough to finish the dish.

Serve as is for a side, or spoon stuffing into roasted pumpkin and return to 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Transfer to pretty plate and bring whole pumpkin to table. To serve, scoop out some pumpkin flesh with the barley mixture.

1 comment:

kerry said...

have also seen a couple of recipes adding mushrooms and/or pomegranate seeds to this. The jury is still out on that one...